An Open Letter to David Shulkin
Dear David Shulkin,
My name is Sydnie, and I am a student at Summit Shasta. We are currently learning about war and if we should engage in it. While war is useful for any attacks from other countries, many soldiers come back with major injuries. Throughout the project, I have learned that not all veterans are receiving an adequate amount of service from the VA. There are many veterans who are not receiving enough support to cure any physical or mental problems or even house themselves. There are currently over 21.8 million veterans living in the United States, and did you know, 39,471 veterans are homeless? There is a lot of lives you could be saving. Without the proper help, this can set back their lives after war. You, being Secretary of the VA, has the power to do something about this problem. While many veterans are suffering from physical injuries or mental injuries, what are you doing to help them?
Based on my research, I can see that the VA is not adequately supporting the needs of the veterans to transition back to civilian life. I know this is true because in an article I read published by the Washington Post called “A Legacy of Pride and Pain” by Tim Burns, the Washington Post talked, and conducted a survey to see what complications veterans have had with the VA. One problem a veteran had with the VA was not being able to see the doctor. In the article I read, a veteran named Christopher Steavens made a request to see the doctor, and since the time he filed it, he has not seen the doctor. He said, “It’s ridiculous that I’ve been waiting seven months just to be examined by a doctor — absolutely ridiculous.” Christopher Steavens filed a request, and 7 months later, he has still not seen the doctor. Can you believe that? Something as simple as seeing a doctor was not possible for the veteran. The VA should not make people wait seven months to see the doctor; with that time, a veteran’s injury could worsen.
While some might say the VA is doing everything they can to aid veterans, but there is an endless amount of veterans, that is not entirely true. If the VA was doing everything they could to help veterans, 453,000 veterans would not be jobless today. 36 percent of the 453,000 veterans are jobless as a result of their injuries. The amount would be significantly less if the VA was doing their job to help injured veterans; the large amount of veterans jobless would be less, because many would have been cured.
A simple solution to this problem would be to have a more effective service center with extra staff to help veterans obtain jobs after war. The VA needs to help an abounding number of veterans rather than just a handful. While some are thriving and receiving all the support they need, many are abandoned and struggling to find work. If our veterans could find a job, they wouldn’t need to rely on the VA to get them their doctor’s appointment even though it’s their job; they could use their insurance to go to the doctors. One association that is beneficial for our veterans is the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment. This association helps find jobs and explore options for any veterans with service connected disabilities. The Vocal Rehabilitation Employment is a program that is working, and can be used to help many more veterans. The veterans who fought for our country should not be treated so badly post war; our veterans need more assistance from the VA. I hope to see many thriving veterans in the future.
Sincerely, Sydnie
